Global Trends At-a-Glance

By the end of 2021, 89.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. This includes:

• 27.1 million refugees
• 53.2 million internally displaced people
• 4.6 million asylum seekers
• 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced abroad

As of May 2022, 100 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide. This accounts for an increase of 10.7 million people displaced from the end of the previous year, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts.

Noteworthy Facts and Statistics by Region/Country

Sub-Saharan Africa

• The East and Horn of Africa, and Great Lakes region hosted nearly 5 million refugees at the end of 2021. 
• The region hosts 67 percent of the refugees on the African continent and
  20 percent of the global refugee population.
• Conflict in the Tigray region in Ethiopia led to the internal displacement of more than 3 million Ethiopians by the end of 2021.

Central America and Venezuela

• In recent years, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have experienced a dramatic escalation in violence by organized criminal groups, locally called maras.
• The number of refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad grew in 2021, reaching 4.4 million by the end of the year. 
• Colombia hosted more than 1.8 million people displaced across borders. 
• 890,000 people originating from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras remain forcibly displaced

Europe

• Turkey continues to be the world's largest refugee-hosting country, home to 3.8 million refugees or 15 percent of all people displaced across borders. 
• Germany was the second largest refugee-hosting country in Europe, with 1.3 million refugees.
• In 2021, more than 114,000 people risked their lives trying to reach Europe by sea; over 3,200 of them are dead or missing.
• Europe granted international protection to more than a quarter of a million people within the region. 

Iraq 

• Nearly 1.2 million Iraqis continued to be internally displaced in 2021, and the country hosts over 250,000 refugees from other countries.
• Although Iraqi IDP returnees consistently outnumber those who are internally displaced, many struggle to reintegrate and still require humanitarian assistance.

South Sudan

• By the end of 2021, there were more than 2.4 million South Sudanese refugees. 
• 95% of South Sudanese refugees are hosted in Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. 
•  An estimated 528,900 people fled their homes in 2021, bringing the total number of conflict-related IDPs in South Sudan to about two million. 

Syria

• Conflict in Syria reached its 11th year in 2021, over a decade. 
• There are 13.5 million displaced Syrian, representing more than half of Syria's total population. 
• 6.8 million Syrian refugees are hosted in 129 countries. 
• 80% of all Syrian refugees are located in neighboring countries, with Turkey hosting more than half (3.7 million). 

Rohingya Refugee Emergency

• The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. The vast majority of Rohingya refugees are women and children, including newborn babies. Many others are elderly people requiring additional aid and protection.
• 1.2 million stateless Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar since the start of violence in 2017. 
• 90% of Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh and Malaysia. 

Ukraine

• The war in Ukraine has captured global attention with more than 7 million Ukrainians displaced within their country and an additional 7 million displaced across borders. 
• After six months, well over a third of the population - or more than 14 million people - remain displaced.

Yemen

• Fighting in Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, has severely compounded needs arising from long years of poverty and insecurity.
• In 2021, the internally displaced population in Yemen reached 4.3 million people, with displaced families facing an acute risk of famine. 
• Natural disasters have exacerbated conflict in Yemen, forcing Yemenis to flee multiple times. 

Education

General Trends for 2022:

• At all levels, refugee enrollment is lower than that of non-refugees. As refugee children get older, they are at greater risk of being left behind.
• Close to half of all refugee children – 48 percent – remain out of school.
• Refugee learners lost an average of 142 days of school up to March 2021 because of school closures. 
• Even before COVID-19, young refugees were around 30 percent less likely to complete primary school, and half as likely to complete lower-secondary school. 

Primary, Secondary and Higher Education:

• Data collected from 40 countries shows that pre-primary enrollment rates for refugees is 42 percent.
• At primary level, UNHCR data suggests that 68 percent of refugee children are enrolled in
  school.
• By contrast, only 37 percent of refugee children are enrolled in secondary school.
• The enrollment level for higher education in college or university has risen to 6 percent, up from 1 percent in recent years. 

Gender Gap:

• At primary level, global gross enrollment rates for refugees were at 68 and 67 percent for boys and girls respectively;
• at secondary level, the rates were 36 and 34 percent.